I know this should go in the media forum, but this is urgently needed. Wife has a laptop and it runs (i.e. fan running, humming, etc) but nothing on the screen.

Is it a video card issue or a monitor issue?

Please advise.

petegz28

05-27-2008, 05:28 PM

I know this should go in the media forum, but this is urgently needed. Wife has a laptop and it runs (i.e. fan running, humming, etc) but nothing on the screen.

Is it a video card issue or a monitor issue?

Please advise.

More than likely it is a motherboard issue. I am assuming your video is all integrated.

petegz28

05-27-2008, 05:29 PM

Can you give some details as to what kind of laptop, model etc?

Donger

05-27-2008, 05:30 PM

Function F4. Function F4.

petegz28

05-27-2008, 05:31 PM

Function F4. Function F4.

LOL yeah or that!!!

DaFace

05-27-2008, 05:32 PM

Function F4. Function F4.

Yeah, that's worth a try (though it's Function F8 on mine). If that's not it, I'd try hooking up an external monitor to the back of the laptop just to make sure. If you still don't have any luck, I'm afraid it's probably time to take it in to a repair shop (based on the assumption that your asking this question is indiciative of your knowledge of computer repairs.)

Coach

05-27-2008, 07:45 PM

Can you give some details as to what kind of laptop, model etc?

Gateway 400vtx

Coach

05-27-2008, 07:45 PM

Function F4. Function F4.

Tried it. Epic Fail.

Coach

05-27-2008, 07:46 PM

Yeah, that's worth a try (though it's Function F8 on mine). If that's not it, I'd try hooking up an external monitor to the back of the laptop just to make sure. If you still don't have any luck, I'm afraid it's probably time to take it in to a repair shop (based on the assumption that your asking this question is indiciative of your knowledge of computer repairs.)

I did the external monitor to the back of the laptop, but it didn't work. But at times, the monitor does come on occasionally from the laptop, but it will freeze up like 5 minutes of boot up. I know that I keep getting the "Recovery from a serious error" log. I get the feeling that it's the motherboard going through it's final stages....

DaFace

05-27-2008, 07:58 PM

I did the external monitor to the back of the laptop, but it didn't work. But at times, the monitor does come on occasionally from the laptop, but it will freeze up like 5 minutes of boot up. I know that I keep getting the "Recovery from a serious error" log. I get the feeling that it's the motherboard going through it's final stages....

So it comes on occasionally using an external monitor, but never through the built-in screen? Or am I reading that wrong?

Regardless, you're almost certainly dealing with some sort of a hardware issue. If you are in the mood to try and mess with it yourself, there's always a remote chance that a RAM chip has gone screwy. If you've got more than one in there, you can experiment with taking one or the other out. It's worth a shot.

Other than that, those types of issues are pretty tricky to troubleshoot on a laptop. Since the external monitor isn't working that great either, that eliminates the possibility that your screen itself has gone bad. It could be video card, mobo, or CPU, or even a clogged fan that's causing the issue, but it's tough to tell without taking it all apart (and even then, it's still pretty tricky).

HMc

05-27-2008, 08:26 PM

could be blown/leaky caps.

Buy a new laptop.

Coach

05-27-2008, 08:29 PM

So it comes on occasionally using an external monitor, but never through the built-in screen? Or am I reading that wrong?

Regardless, you're almost certainly dealing with some sort of a hardware issue. If you are in the mood to try and mess with it yourself, there's always a remote chance that a RAM chip has gone screwy. If you've got more than one in there, you can experiment with taking one or the other out. It's worth a shot.

Other than that, those types of issues are pretty tricky to troubleshoot on a laptop. Since the external monitor isn't working that great either, that eliminates the possibility that your screen itself has gone bad. It could be video card, mobo, or CPU, or even a clogged fan that's causing the issue, but it's tough to tell without taking it all apart (and even then, it's still pretty tricky).

Got that dreaded blue message stating that a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to computer.

First time you seen this error, restart, if it happens again, follow this directions...

As for the monitor, I hooked the external video card that is from the laptop to a different monitor, but that did not work. Whatever is shown on the laptop, is also shown exactly the same on the seperate monitor.

DaFace

05-27-2008, 08:32 PM

Got that dreaded blue message stating that a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to computer.

First time you seen this error, restart, if it happens again, follow this directions...

As for the monitor, I hooked the external video card that is from the laptop to a different monitor, but that did not work. Whatever is shown on the laptop, is also shown exactly the same on the seperate monitor.

Are you able to at least get the Gateway startup screen to display consistently? At first it sounded like you were getting no video at all, and now it sounds like you are.

For what it's worth, atapi.sys is a driver file that manages the interface between your drives and the rest of your computer.

cdcox

05-27-2008, 08:34 PM

Pull out the hard drive, then leave your sweet laptop unattended at the coffee shop, then report it stolen.

petegz28

05-27-2008, 08:38 PM

I'd say something on the board is freaking out.

chasedude

05-27-2008, 08:45 PM

Will it boot to safe mode at all?

FAX

05-27-2008, 08:47 PM

Let's back up a second.

Are your eyes open, Mr. Coach?

FAX

Coach

05-27-2008, 09:24 PM

Are you able to at least get the Gateway startup screen to display consistently? At first it sounded like you were getting no video at all, and now it sounds like you are.

For what it's worth, atapi.sys is a driver file that manages the interface between your drives and the rest of your computer.

Sometimes, it won't show up. Sometimes, it will show up the Gateway start-up screen. It's a 50/50 chance. It was at first that I wasn't getting any video at all. But as I mentioned, it's a 50/50 shot if I get video or not.

As for atapi.sys, I don't know much about drivers, compareed to the RAMs or CPU's since drivers isn't my speciality.

Coach

05-27-2008, 09:25 PM

Will it boot to safe mode at all?

It would, but it would also freeze up.

Coach

05-27-2008, 09:25 PM

Let's back up a second.

Are your eyes open, Mr. Coach?

FAX

Yes.

DaFace

05-27-2008, 09:27 PM

Sometimes, it won't show up. Sometimes, it will show up the Gateway start-up screen. It's a 50/50 chance. It was at first that I wasn't getting any video at all. But as I mentioned, it's a 50/50 shot if I get video or not.

As for atapi.sys, I don't know much about drivers, compareed to the RAMs or CPU's since drivers isn't my speciality.

K...I was just confirming that it's an intermittent problem. The blue screen's pretty much irrelevant if you're not even getting that far most of the time.

As I said above (and others have alluded to), it's probably some motherboard-connected component. About the only thing in there that's easy to swap out is the RAM. If you've got a way to test that out (either by removing the RAM one chip at a time or by replacing it), it's probably worth a shot. Otherwise, it ain't gonna be easy.

jjchieffan

05-27-2008, 09:31 PM

See if it will boot to a windows cd

Skip Towne

05-27-2008, 09:34 PM

K...I was just confirming that it's an intermittent problem. The blue screen's pretty much irrelevant if you're not even getting that far most of the time.

As I said above (and others have alluded to), it's probably some motherboard-connected component. About the only thing in there that's easy to swap out is the RAM. If you've got a way to test that out (either by removing the RAM one chip at a time or by replacing it), it's probably worth a shot. Otherwise, it ain't gonna be easy.

You can also spray one chip at a time wth freon. When you spray the overheating chip it will start working again (for awhile) Then replace that chip.

Coach

05-27-2008, 09:34 PM

K...I was just confirming that it's an intermittent problem. The blue screen's pretty much irrelevant if you're not even getting that far most of the time.

As I said above (and others have alluded to), it's probably some motherboard-connected component. About the only thing in there that's easy to swap out is the RAM. If you've got a way to test that out (either by removing the RAM one chip at a time or by replacing it), it's probably worth a shot. Otherwise, it ain't gonna be easy.

Thought about it. Won't be messing with it now, since I messed with it alot today, just to get the future-wife-to-be's list of songs, since she was really wanting that badly (She did put in countless hours of work on that) so I somehow sneaked in at least 5 minutes out of the guarenteed piece of shit, just to burn that program to the CD.

DaFace

05-27-2008, 09:39 PM

Thought about it. Won't be messing with it now, since I messed with it alot today, just to get the future-wife-to-be's list of songs, since she was really wanting that badly (She did put in countless hours of work on that) so I somehow sneaked in at least 5 minutes out of the guarenteed piece of shit, just to burn that program to the CD.

Chance are your drive is fine, so your files are likely intact. If you're considering dumping the laptop or anything, just pick one of these up, and you'll be able to pull the files onto another PC pretty easily.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156017

Coach

05-27-2008, 11:12 PM

Manged to get in, worked fine, then in the process of shutting down, said that in Windows\Temp\WGAErrLog.txt is a corrupt file and it's unreadable. use the chkdsk utility....

88TG88

05-27-2008, 11:43 PM

Same thing happened to me, turned out to be the light in the laptop screen.

DenverChief

05-28-2008, 05:55 AM

Gateway 400vtx

found your problem

http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/news/apple/macbook_white_3q_c.jpg

kepp

05-28-2008, 06:23 AM

found your problem

http://img.hexus.net/v2/lifestyle/news/apple/macbook_white_3q_c.jpg

You mean there's a Mac sabotaging his Gateway?! I thought only the fuchsia-colored ones could do that.

chasedude

05-28-2008, 08:04 AM

Chance are your drive is fine, so your files are likely intact. If you're considering dumping the laptop or anything, just pick one of these up, and you'll be able to pull the files onto another PC pretty easily.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156017

One of the greatest Tech tools I've found Daface. I like this item, it helps my troubleshooting big time!